The ad 79 eruption of the Vesuvius severely affected the floodplain surrounding the ancient city of Pompeii, i.e. the Sarno River floodplain. The landscape was covered with volcaniclastic materials that destroyed the ecosystem but, at the same time, preserved the traces of former environmental conditions. This study provides—for the first time—a pollen sequence reconstructing the environmental evolution and the plant landscape of the Sarno floodplain between 900 and 750 cal bc and ad 79, i.e. before and during the foundation of the city, and during its life phases. Previous geomorphological studies revealed that the portion of the Sarno floodplain under the “Pompeii hill” was a freshwater backswamp with patchy inundated and dry areas. Palynology depicts a thin forest cover since the Early Iron Age, suggesting an open environment with a mosaic of vegetation types. The local presence of Mediterranean coastal shrubland, hygrophilous riverine forest and mesophilous plain forest is combined with the regional contribution of mountain vegetation through the sequence. Oscillations between inundated and wet ground characterized the studied area until the ad 79 eruption. Such a natural environment shows anthropogenic traits since pre-Roman times: pasturelands, cultivated fields and olive groves, which probably occupied drier soils. The most important change in the land use system was the introduction of cabbage cultivation in the fourth century bc and its intensification from the second century bc, when Roman influence grew. The presence of tree crops and of ornamental trees reveals the opulence of the Imperial age until the catastrophic eruption.

该广告维苏威火山的爆发79严重影响周围的庞贝古城的河漫滩，即在萨尔诺河漫滩。景观覆盖着火山碎屑材料，破坏了生态系统，但同时保留了以前环境条件的痕迹。这项研究提供-首次-花粉重建环境演变和萨尔诺河漫滩的900和750之间的CAL的植物景观序列BC和广告79，即在城市建立之前和期间，以及在其生命阶段。先前的地貌研究表明，“庞贝山”下的萨尔诺泛滥平原部分是淡水后沼泽，有片状淹没和干燥区域。孢粉学描绘了早铁器时代以来一片薄薄的森林覆盖，暗示了一个植被类型镶嵌的开放环境。当地存在的地中海沿岸灌木丛、湿润的河流森林和中温平原森林与山地植被的区域贡献通过序列相结合。淹没和潮湿地面之间的振荡表征了研究区域，直到广告79 喷发。这样的自然环境自罗马时代以来就显示出人为特征：牧场、耕地和橄榄园，它们可能占据了较干燥的土壤。土地利用系统最重要的变化是在公元前四世纪引入了卷心菜种植，并从公元前二世纪开始加强，当时罗马的影响越来越大。树木作物和观赏树木的存在揭示了帝国时代的富裕，直到灾难性的喷发。